Sports
Nelly Korda ends drought, wins weather-shortened LPGA opener
Nelly Korda takes part in the first round of the 2025 CME Group Tour Championships at Tiburon Golf Club at the Ritz Carlton Golf Resort in Naples on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. What was more shocking than World No. 2 golfer Nelly Korda going winless in 2025 was below-freezing temperatures and nearly single-digit wind chills halting a tournament in Orlando, Fla.
After a 14-month drought, Korda hoisted a champions’ trophy early Sunday afternoon after capturing the Tournament of Champions at the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club.
Korda won for the 16th time without leaving the clubhouse or practice range on Sunday. The tournament was shortened to 54 holes and second-place finisher Amy Yang of South Korea could not make up three shots on two holes to tie Korda.
Yang was one of eight players that took to the course on Sunday.
Korda carded a stunning 8-under-par 64 in chilly conditions on Saturday, but was able to get into the clubhouse before the winds took full affect and caused tournament officials to halt play. She won for the first time since the 2024 Annika in November 2024.
“It feels amazing. I’m just super proud of (caddie) Jason (McDede) and I yesterday for how we fought those conditions,” said Korda. “For my team. I wouldn’t be here without them. We’re all pieces of a puzzle. I wouldn’t be who I am without them. Just so grateful.
“And to be able to do it here at Lake Nona, I mean, the conditions were so amazing. We have to thank the superintendent for making this golf course just so world class.”
Korda posted rounds of 68-71-64 and topped Yang (-10) by three strokes. Canada’s Brooke M. Henderson carded a 6-under par 66 on Saturday and finished alone in third place at -7.
Tournament officials hoped to start at 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday and play 72 holes. But, as Ricki Lasky, the LPGA’s chief business and operations officer, explained, Mother Nature had other ideas.
“What we found was when we got on site and talked to several of the players when they were warming up was that the grounds was really hard and it was changing the trajectory of their shots as they were practicing,” said Lasky. “The balls were releasing when they weren’t supposed to be so, so we pushed back.
“We really tried to take as much time as we possibly could to get all 72 holes into play. We certainly did everything we could. We worked with the grounds crew, which again was impeccable. We had to make the really hard decision to call it at 54.”
Yang, who resides in Orlando, was disappointed, but understood the bizarre circumstances.
“I wish I played final round, you know, give myself a little chance,” said Yang. “But it was playing very cold out there. I got here early warming up for 10:00 a.m. resume, and the greens weren’t playable… so, yeah, I could understand that we couldn’t compete for the fourth round.”
Korda plans to remain at home as many LPGA players head for the six-week Asian swing.
“The first tournament of the season is always tough. You’re working on stuff and you kind of test it out, but at the end of the day like you’re going in for that trophy,” said Korda. “Mentally you’re here 100%, and you kind of have to let go of all the technique that you worked on and you have to just commit.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
HEROIC, Team Liquid advance at BLAST Slam VI
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
HEROIC and Team Liquid each recorded a sweep on Sunday to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals of the BLAST Slam VI event.
HEROIC posted a 2-0 win over Tundra Esports in their play-in match, courtesy of 56- and 40-minute victories on red. HEROIC will compete again in Friday’s quarterfinals against Team Yandex.
Team Liquid notched a 2-0 win over GamerLegion in their play-in match on Sunday, courtesy of a 27-minute victory on red and 37-minute triumph on green. Liquid will be back in action on Friday against Team Falcons in the other quarterfinal.
BLAST Slam VI is a 12-team Dota 2 event that pays $300,000 to the winner and $1 million overall. The event opened with three days of group play — a round-robin, best-of-1 format in which each team played each other team once. The top two teams in the standings, Natus Vincere and OG, moved on to the semifinals of the playoffs.
The teams finishing third through eighth in the standings advanced to the play-in round — four best-of-3 matches in which the winners advance to the playoffs and the losers are eliminated. The teams finishing ninth through 12th in group play competed in the last-chance playoff, another best-of-3 format where the winners advanced to the play-in round and the losers went home.
The teams that win Friday’s quarterfinals advance to Saturday’s semifinals. Natus Vincere gets the winner of Team Yandex-HEROIC while OG faces the Team Falcons-Team Liquid victor. The grand final will be held on Feb. 15.
BLAST Slam VI prize pool
1. $300,000 (plus $100,000 in team earnings)
2. $150,000 (plus $50,000)
3-4. $60,000 (plus $29,000)
5-6. $35,000 (plus $15,000)
7-10. $22,500 (plus $6.250) — Team Spirit, Xtreme Gaming, Tundra Esports, GamerLegion
11-12. $10,000 (plus $2,500) — REKONIX, MOUZ
–Field Level Media
Sports
New-look Bulls to focus on defense vs. confident Nets
Feb 7, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Bruce Brown (11) defends Chicago Bulls guard Collin Sexton (2) during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images Less than a month after the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets clashed in consecutive games, the teams will meet again Monday with the Bulls sporting an entirely different look.
On Jan. 18, the Bulls dominated in a 124-102 home win over the Brooklyn Nets that started a four-game winning streak. The run of success got Chicago to one game over .500 at 23-22.
Since then, though, the Bulls’ roster underwent a massive makeover, and the revamped version will attempt to halt a four-game skid when they visit the Nets on Monday night in New York.
The Nets had Dec. 3 and Jan. 16 victories over the Bulls before Chicago broke through in the season series. Seven players hit double figures in Chicago’s victory, but Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Kevin Huerter were among those traded as last week’s deadline arrived.
The deals resulted in Anfernee Simons, Jaden Ivey, Collin Sexton, Rob Dillingham, Nick Richards and Leonard Miller joining a team that was in the play-in round in each of the previous three seasons.
The Bulls are 1-7 since their four-game winning streak and 19-29 since opening the season with a five-game winning streak.
Chicago allowed opponents to shoot 53.7% overall, 46.8% from 3-point range and 54.5% in the paint during double-digit losses to the Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets.
In Saturday’s 136-120 loss to the visiting Denver Nuggets, the Bulls allowed a season-worst 57.6% from the field that included 68.2% in the fourth when they were outscored 39-16.
“The defense was not good (in the fourth quarter),” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. “We’re going to make some mistakes. The guys are all playing together (but) guys are forgetting plays. The spacing may not (be there). It’s going to happen, but we’ve got to get much, much better defensively.”
Chicago allowed its third-most points of the season while getting mixed results from its newcomers offensively. Sexton scored 17 in his debut, Simons and Richards added 15 apiece, while Guerschon Yabusele finished with 12 and Ivey had 10. The seven newbies who played combined for 17 assists and 12 turnovers while shooting 42.2% (27 of 64) from the field.
The Nets are 4-18 over their past 22 games, but coming off one of their better showings of late to create the rare opportunity for consecutive victories. On Saturday, the Nets took control in the first quarter, led by as many as 34 and recorded a 127-113 home victory over the Washington Wizards, who suited up eight available players.
Brooklyn scored 80 points in the first half, its most since a 91-point opening half against the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 21, 2022. The Nets shot a season-best 54.9%, scored a season-high 66 points in the paint and tied a season-best with 36 assists.
“The message was there shouldn’t be distractions anymore, and this is who we are,” Brooklyn rookie Danny Wolf said. “Guys did a great job buying into the game plan.”
Michael Porter Jr. led seven in double figures with 20 of his 23 points in the first half. Day’Ron Sharpe tied a season-high with 19 points while the Nets saw three of their five rookies reach double figures.
Wolf finished with 16, Nolan Traore added 15 while starting in the backcourt with fellow rookie Egor Demin and Ben Saraf finished with 10.
–Field Level Media
Sports
All-Star trio officially added to NBC broadcast crew
Sep 5, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) stands in the dugout before the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: James A. Pittman-Imagn Images NBC has finalized an All-Star team for its return to MLB coverage this season, confirming the additions of recently retired players Clayton Kershaw, Anthony Rizzo and Joey Votto to its broadcast team.
The trio of players, who combined to earn 20 All-Star Game nods, all will be used during coverage on exclusive wild-card playoff games that air on NBC and Peacock. They will also be used on select pregame shows for Sunday Night Baseball on the network and streaming service.
NBC is taking over Sunday night baseball coverage from ESPN after agreeing to a three-year, $600 million contract last fall. The network also has exclusive rights to air the wild-card playoff round.
NBC previously announced that veteran sportscaster Bob Costas is returning to host the “Sunday Night Baseball” pregame show this season. Costas was the play-by-play voice of baseball on NBC from 1982-89 and 1994-2000. The network hasn’t had MLB broadcast rights since 2000.
Votto, 42, was the 2010 NL MVP and spent 17 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. The six-time All-Star hit 356 home runs and drove in 1,144 runs.
Kershaw, 37, retired from the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 2025 season. A three-time World Series champion and 11-time All-Star, he won three NL Cy Young Awards and was the 2014 MVP with a 21-3 record and a 1.77 ERA.
Rizzo, 36, played 14 seasons with the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees and was part of the Cubs’ 2016 championship team. He won four Gold Glove awards at first base and was an All-Star three times.
–Field Level Media
HEROIC, Team Liquid advance at BLAST Slam VI
New-look Bulls to focus on defense vs. confident Nets
